Like A Lantern
by thehogwartsgleechick
Summary: George always thought that it would be him and Fred, no one else, for the rest of their lives. But that's not necessarily the case. Victoria Settler is going to light the way for him, like a lantern. M for language
1. Chapter 1

Like a lantern, Chapter one.

My entire life, I thought it was just going to be me and Fred. Just us, forever. But things never stay the way that you think that they will. That fact hit me like a stack of bricks. And with the help of Victoria Settler, I was shown the way. She was like a flashlight, using her light to guide me. Like a lantern.

I met Victoria Settler in first year. It was about three or four months into classes. During a Quiditch game. George and I sat I the stands, eager to see the game. We were planning on trying out for the Gryffindor team the next year, so our eyes were glued on the field. Victoria and her friends came and sat next to us. Victoria sat next to me, slightly falling on me. She started blushing and apologizing. Catherine Bowler sat next to Victoria, John O'Brien next to Catherine, Rosalind Spark next to John, and Patrick Waters next to Rosalind.

Catherine Bowler was a girl, about a couple of inches shorter than me, with dirty blonde hair that went to her shoulders. She had small glasses that covered her light brown eyes. She always seemed to be adjusting her glasses. Catherine was slightly overweight, but no one paid it any mind because she was so nice and quiet. John O'Brien was tall, about three inches taller than me buy the time he was in first year. He has shaggy black hair that covered his eyes. He was freakishly skinny; often Victoria and her friends would call him a stick. He would laugh because he most likely agreed. His eyes were a crystal-ish grey, so light that they almost seemed white. Rosalind had dark brown hair that went to the top of her back. She was one of the more athletic girls in Gryffindor, and it showed. She too was tall. But not as tall as John. She was… probably two inches shorter than John. Patrick was short, the shortest in the group of frien, not much over 5 feet tall. He had beach-blonde hair and green eyes. His face was sprinkled with freckles.

And then, there was Victoria.

Her hair was blonde, but nowhere near as blonde as Patrick's. In first year, her hair was cut to it didn't quite touch her shoulders. But every other year afterwards, her slightly wavy hair went down, almost to her waist. Her eyes were an amethyst color, which was sort of a mixture between dark blue and purple. Like blueberries and red grapes. During her first year, she had braces. Only half of first year though. When I met her she was four inches smaller than me and I was 5'8". She would eventually would grow to be 5'6", whereas I would only become 5'9" at most.

In the stands, her friends were joking around and one of them gave her a little shove. Fred and I were also taking our seats. She tripped and fell. I quickly caught her, making her friends go wide eyed. She looked up, he cheeks bright red. I helped her back on her feet and she quietly apologized.

"I- I am _so_ sorry, I didn't- I just… sorry." She said quickly. I laughed

"It's ok." I said. I sat down next to Fred as Victoria turned and quietly yelled at her friends for pushing her. They all tried not to snicker.

"Isn't that Victoria Settle?" Fred asked, looking t her over my shoulder. I turned and looked at her. Victoria's dad worked in the Ministry of Magic. He was quite a valuable employee to the Minister. Victoria, when she was eight, she had her picture in the newspaper. She was standing with her dad, mum, little brother, and the Ministers family.

"I guess." I shrugged, turning back to my brother, "So?"

"I don't know." He said, "She's kinda cute, I suppose."

"Yeah, suppose she is."

She took her seat next to me and quickly punched John. Catherine sat next to her, telling her not to hit him. Throughout the game, I snuck several looks at her. She seemed as invested in the game as we were. That night, in the Gryffindor common room, we had a victory party. Percy came down and started whining about the noise.

"I am _trying_ to get some sleep!" he shouted over the noise, "Everyone in here should be getting into bed!"

"Percy, don't be such a prat." I said rolling my eyes

"Yeah," Fred said, "You always spoil everyone's fun. Just this once, leave everyone be." Percy looked around and grabbed a girl by her arm. She turned and it was Victoria

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but would you agree if I said that _some_ people should be heading to bed?" he asked

"No," she laughed, she shook out of his grip, "Gryffindor won, why shouldn't we be celebrating?" she walked over to her friends who were motioning her over. Percy stomped up the stairs and back to bed.

…

One day, in fifth year, Fred and I pulled of a magnificent prank. Though, it only was a shame only the professors noticed. We sneaked firecrackers into all of the cauldrons in the potions room. We thought they would go off sometime during classes, but they went off at night when several teachers were there. So, we got detention.

The next night, we had to go into the Forbidden Forest to help Hagrid look for some kind of creature that got loose. When we got close, Victoria was talking to Hagrid outside of his house. Fred and I shred a look and continued on. When we actually got to the house, Hagrid explained what we had to do. Victoria didn't leave. In fact, Hagrid said that Fred would go with him and I would go with Victoria, because he didn't trust Fred and I alone in the woods. So I picked up the lantern and Headed into the woods with Victoria at my side.

Victoria was quiet as we walked. She stayed close to me and frantically looked around us with wide eyes. By fifth year, I had begun to realize I fancied her. So my heartbeat had skyrocketed by the time we got to Hagrid's house to when a loud noise in the woods erupted and she screamed and wrapped her arms around me. Her face was hidden in my chest and her arms were tightly wrapped around my torso. She quietly whimpered for a few moments. I placed the light on the forest floor and held her. I put my left arm around her waist and kept her close against me with my right hand on the back of her head. Slowly, her whimpers became quieter and eventually subsided.

"Do you see anything?" she asked quietly. I looked around, only seeing darkness and a few plants in the light of the lantern

"No." I said, "It was probably just Hagrid and Fred." She looked up at me face. Her eyes looked panicked

"Or," she said quieter, "Maybe it was Sirius Black. I mean… he _did_ just escape from Azkaban." I sighed

"It's not likely." I said, trying to make her feel better, "Of all the places he could hide, why would he come to Hogwarts? He'd probably go to a completely different continent." She bit her lip, looking less concerned, but still scared, "It's ok, nothing's gunna happen." I picked up the lantern and we continued walking. But I walked with my arm around her shoulders and her arms still wrapped around my torso

A couple of hours later, we have gone deep into the woods. A tree branch brushed against Victoria, making her scream and jump back. I went over to her and she quickly fell into me again. Her breathing was heavy, but quiet. She asked if we could start heading back to Hagrid's house, so that's what we did.

When we got back, Hagrid and Fred were already there, tying some animal to a post with a rope. The post was with several others which held about five other beasts, similar to the one they were tying, all looking confused. Victoria still clung onto me, tightly. When they finished, Fred turned and looked back and forth between us. He grinned and took the lantern out of my hand, placing it with a couple others, shooting me a wink. The three of us made or way back to the castle in silence. It was clear that Victoria had calmed down, but she still walked leaning her head on my arm which was still slung around her shoulders. Every couple of minutes, Fred would give me a nudge and looked back and forth between Victoria and I with his eyebrows raised.

We got back to the castle and everyone was asleep. Before we got to the Gryffindor tower, Fred said he had to go check something and ran ahead, leaving Victoria and I alone once again. She slipped her hand into mine, without looking at me. When I glanced at her, her face was tinted with blush and she had a slight smile. At the bottom of the stairs, I waited for her to drop my hand and walk up the stairs. But she didn't.

"Um… George?" she said quietly. I looked at her and she was only an inch or two away from me

"Yeah?" I stuttered. Her grip on my hand tightened as she looked down

"Well… just…" she looked up again at me, "Thanks. I mean… I was _really_ freaked out."

"Uh, y-you're welcome." She quickly kissed my cheek and ran up the stairs. Fred came out of a closet in the corner of the common room and ran over to me

"Did, did she just…?" he asked gripping my shoulders

"I… I think so." He started pushing me up the stairs

"You are going to tell me very fucking detail." He said


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm an awful person for not updating, please don't shoot me. I'll do it for you later. Anyway, it took me so long because I was reading through some of my old stories, saw this one, and remembered it. Wow the hogwartsgleechick… wow.**

Fred and I were told we need tutoring in Transfiguration. Totally embarrassing. We were getting separate tutors because we "can't get work done together". However true it may be, we still argued. So at around six o'clock, I went to the library to meet my tutor. Yes, I wasn't told who it would be, so I felt sort of awkward. I sat down at one of the tables, looking around the room trying to see if my tutor had arrived. I heard someone run in the library and come up behind me.

"I am so, _so_, sorry!" she said frantically, sitting across the table from me, "My friend had a little freak out so I had to help her out."

"It's ok. So, Victoria, you're my tutor?" she nodded and took a couple books out of her bag

"McGonagall tell you to bring your latest report card with you like I told her to?" I nodded and handed it to her. Her eyes scanned the paper, taking in every grade in Transfiguration I had ever gotten. I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. She set the paper down on the table, "George, I can see you're embarrassed." She said gently, "But I expected worse. It's not my judgment, but I personally don't think you need a tutor."

"Thanks." I said a bit quietly. The entire situation was the most embarrassing one of my life. I mean I was really fancying her by then. Her kind smile just made me melt.

"I'll just help you practice and soon enough you'll be brilliant." She pushed a few books towards me, "For now, I just recommend you read bits and pieces of these. I've bookmarked and highlighted the vital parts. I know it's annoying but it'll do you good in the future." She smiled at me

"Thanks Victoria. So you're some Transfiguration genius?" I smirked, marking her blush slightly

"Shut up." She said quietly.

… … … …

Two weeks after that I was on my way to the library. As I was walking down the stairs, I could see Victoria a couple of flights in front if me. She had her blonde hair tied up tight, messy bun. A couple minutes later when I got to the library, she wasn't sitting at our usual table. I walked around a little, and found her sitting in a chair behind a bookshelf. Her face was read and blotchy, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had a mirror in her hands and she was using it to try and make it look like she wasn't crying. I knelt down next to her and she jumped when she saw me.

"Uh, George, what… what are you doing?" she stuttered, her amethyst eyes widening

"What's wrong?" I asked as gently as I could. She wiped the tears off her face and shook her head, "Don't say nothing's wrong, I can tell. You can trust me you know." Victoria broke into tears and wrapped her arms around my neck

"I'm sorry George," she cried, "I'm just having a really crappy day." She hid her face I my neck, clinging me tightly

"Are you sure that's it?" I asked, sitting on the chair next to her and held her waist. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she sobbed into me, "I'm sorry, Victoria."

"No it's ok." She said, "Yeah, I kinda do want to talk about it." I took my hands off her waist and went to move them to her shoulders, but she clung onto me tighter, "Please don't let me go." She whispered. I held her shoulders

"I won't, trust me." I heard some students talking in the library, "Do you wanna talk somewhere more privately?" she nodded and I helped her stand up. We walked to one of the fields and we sat against the wall, hidden. Though, there was no one to hide from in the field. She hugged me again

"Thank you, George." She said, curling against me. Victoria held her knees close to her chest

"What happened?"

"My dad's in the Ministry. He works with putting criminals away, by going undercover and trying to catch them. So, not a lot of people like him. Lately, he's getting a lot of threats. And, well, some of them are really serious. Some of them go after my family."

"And you?" she put her head in her knees. I put my arm around her, pulling her hair to one side. "Did I press too much?"

"No, it's just hard to talk about." I kissed the side of her head. I didn't mean to, I just was thinking about how it would be nice if I did, but I never would. I'm not very good at stuff like that. Victoria looked up at me, her eyes widened a little bit

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gently pressed her lips against mine. But only for a few seconds.

"Don't be sorry."


	3. Chapter 3

After we kissed, Victoria and I started to become really good friends. Practically inseparable sometimes. Fred always made a point to call her over when he saw her. He was obviously well aware I fancied her, without me telling him. I like to tell myself I'm quite casual and suave around her, nowhere near the nervous wreck I am on the inside, but I'm probably not. I'm probably just as bad on the inside and out. But I'd be much worse if we didn't completely ignore the entire night we kissed. For Christmas break, we felt sort of bad that she was staying at school.

"Why?" we asked her at breakfast when she told us, "Don't you wanna see your family."

"Of course I do!" she protested. She closed the book she was reading, _Nowhere Land by Alice Settler_. "It's just that there's some… stuff going on with dad and his work. He assured me it would be best if I stayed here." Fred snatched the book from the table. She protested, grabbing for it. Victoria, however, had a table in the way and her arms length wasn't long enough to get it. "Fred give it!" she yelled

"You mum write this?" he asked, reading the back cover

"No," she grabbed for it again, another failed attempt, "My cousin. Now give it!"

"_I couldn't write this book without my cousin and best friend, Victoria. To who I thank and dedicate this book to her from the bottom of my heart_." He read from the dedication page, "Well, now we know why you want it back so bad." He tossed it back to her. She barely caught it, and shoved it in her bag. "What'd you do to get honored ever so much?"

"Nothing." She shrugged. We leaned forward, well aware of the fact it was a lie

"Victoria, you're a terrible liar you know?" Fred smirked

"Yeah, you really are." She looked down at her lap. "The way that you rub the back you your neck and your face gets pale are just to completely obvious things. But you know, you're voice gets higher when you lie." She realized she was, in fact, rubbing her neck. Victoria bit her lip and pulled at the bottom of her shirt sleeve

"Shut up guys, and I'm not lying. I barely did anything for the book. Look, sorry but I gotta go, see you later." She winked at us and made her way out of the dinning hall.

"That's another lie right there. We know you're going to go snog someone!" Fred yelled after her. She turned and waved us off. We laughed and got our own things together, heading for class

On the train, Fred nudged me and pulled something out of his bag. He handed me a book. _Nowhere Land by Alice Settler_. I flipped open to the table of context. The book was slip into two different parts. ¾ of the book was in the section 'Alice' and the other part was under the section 'Victoria'. I flipped to the first page under 'Victoria' and started to read it. It turns out the book was actually a novel, two peoples point of view of living with Schizophrenia. It really was fascinating. And I soon found out that the reason Victoria's section was so much shorter because her characters story ended with her dying. So cheerful, I know. But it was really brilliant.

… … … …

In our sixth year, the Triwizard Tournament started. And yes, after the initial anger that we couldn't participate, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Though we were really jealous of Victoria. Her birthday was four days after school started, so we had no idea why she was put in our year. But that meant she could enter. She, however refused to enter, to my silent joy. I honestly didn't want her to get hurt. And, it took me longer then I care to admit that the Yule Ball came with the Triwizard Tournament. Not one of my highest moments, but at least I caught on eventually. But it was only because Fred told me he was planning on asking Angelina Johnson.

"So, who are you going to ask?" he nudged me. When I only gave him a shrug in response, he rolled his eyes. "Please, like I need to guess. You're gunna ask Victoria, aren't you?" I opened my mouth to protest, but he held a hand up. "Protest all you want, I suppose I get it. But please, for the love of _god_, don't you dare give me the 'she's my friend' thing. Because that rule is shit." He gestured to her, sitting at the Ravenclaw table, talking to one of her friends from another house. "Look, I would get it if you're afraid to ask her cause she's hot and all. Every guy in the school knows it, you know." I gave him a look

"You serious?" I laughed. "I can't just… ask my best friend on a date. Can you imagine how awkward I would be?"

"So then just… ask her as a friend." He said simply, "You said yourself, she's your best friend, other than me." We laughed

"Well…" I said quietly and slowly, "Maybe I don't want to take her as a friend." We were silent for a few moments as Fred thought of his next remark

"I dunno, George. Girls are complicated." We nodded in agreement and headed to class

… … … …

At about 10 o'clock, Victoria and I were walking back from another tutoring session. Yes, she was still my tutor. But only just to preserve the skills she helped me build. To two of us ignored the fact that all day, Slytherin boys had been asking her to the ball, as a joke though. She cursed them off and pushed past them, but I could see in her amethyst eyes that it hurt her. But it became impossible to ignore when it happened as we were walking. She avoided my eyes.

"Victoria?" I asked cautiously

"Yeah?" she was looking at me, but only out of the corner of her eye. I choked and changed the subject, deciding to not ask her.

"Uh, has that been happening all day?" she nodded silently. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her against me, "They're just a bunch of gits, don't let them get to you." She laughed and we changed the subject.

Outside of our dormitory doors we said our goodbyes and hugged briefly. And even though it was only for a couple of seconds, it seemed to last forever. I thought about asking her, and I knew I had to do it then. If I didn't, I'd go to sleep and have hours to back myself out of it. Then I'd never ask her, and someone else would. So I mustered up the courage as she reached for the door.

"Victoria, wait." I said quickly. She turned and looked at me with her deep beautiful eyes

"Y-yes George?" she asked when I didn't say anything.

"You wanna go to the ball with me?" I asked, quicker then before. She smiled brightly at me

"R-really?" she stuttered. I nodded slowly, completely embarrassed. "Yeah I'd love to."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" she hugged me again, but longer and tighter

"Thanks George, and goodnight."

**Next chapter's the Yule Ball! I love writing the Yule Ball, it's just the best ever!**


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